In the midst of friction with the United States, Nicolás Maduro reinforced military enlistment with the incorporation of 5,600 new soldiers into the Venezuelan Armed Forces, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed by telephone his “deep concern” about the US military deployment in the Caribbean and the suspension of flights to Venezuela.
First modification: 07/12/2025 - 16:15Last modification: 07/12/2025 - 16:19
Nicolás Maduro has called to reinforce military enlistment and to close ranks against "imperialism", as he refers to the country governed by Donald Trump.
Around 5,600 soldiers were incorporated into the Venezuelan Armed Forces on Saturday, in response to threats from the United States and the deployment of the military flotilla in the Caribbean, which includes the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
The new troops are “revolutionary, socialist fighters” and “deeply Chavistas, trained under the tactical method of revolutionary resistance,” according to the officers who conducted the incorporation ceremony.
The Venezuelan Armed Forces, made up of some 200,000 troops, to which another 200,000 police officers are added, according to official data, and which also has some eight million reservists from the Bolivarian National Militia, swears loyalty to Maduro, who defines it as the “backbone of stability, peace, security and the future” of Venezuela.
"Venezuela has an Armed Force, together with the people, fused, trained, trained, moralized; under no circumstances will we allow the invasion of an empire," Colonel Gabriel Alejandro Rendón Vílchez said on Saturday.
Applications to enroll in the Bolivarian National Armed Forces have increased, according to General Javier José Marcano Tábata, given the situation of tension with the United States.
“At this time, when imperialism threatens our country, our people in an illegal, arbitrary, lying, false, arrogant manner, young people come in thousands to join the Bolivarian National Armed Forces,” he stated during the event held at Fuerte Tiuna, the largest military complex in Venezuela, in Caracas.
The relationship between the United States and Venezuela has become complicated since US forces began attacking boats that they claim are related to drug trafficking, although they have not publicly presented evidence to confirm this assertion. Since early September, U.S. forces in the Caribbean and Pacific have carried out more than 20 attacks, killing 87 people.
UN experts and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International consider that these deaths constitute extrajudicial executions by the United States.
Read alsoIn his worst crisis, where are Nicolás Maduro's allies?
In turn, Washington accuses Maduro of leading the alleged Cartel of the Suns, which it classified as a terrorist organization at the end of November 2025.
The Venezuelan president has called on the military and police to maintain a “permanent offensive plan” to respond to the US president, who, from his perspective, seeks a “regime change” to appropriate the Caribbean country's large oil reserves.
Trump and Maduro held a telephone conversation 12 days ago without revealing details. Maduro has insisted on dialogue, but Washington does not ease the pressure.
Maduro and Erdogan spoke by phone about the US military deployment near Venezuela
The presidents of Venezuela and Türkiye spoke by telephone on Saturday about the United States military deployment in the Caribbean, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reported.
Türkiye, along with Iran, China and Russia, is one of the main international allies of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Erdogan has shown support for Maduro's third term, despite the fact that the Venezuelan opposition denounced fraud in those elections and claimed the triumph of the exiled Edmundo González Urrutia.
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his deep concern about the threats that have recently loomed over Venezuela, in particular due to the military deployment and actions of various kinds that seek to alter the peace and security of the Caribbean,” the Caracas statement indicated.
In a note from the Turkish presidency, Erdogan stressed that "it is important to keep the channels of dialogue between the United States and Venezuela open" and expressed his desire that "the tension be reduced as soon as possible."
Maduro “explained in detail the illegal, disproportionate, unnecessary and even extravagant nature of these threats, making it clear that Venezuela continues to work firmly for economic growth, national peace and political stability,” the Venezuelan text added.
The presidents also spoke about the massive suspension of international airline flights following a security alert issued by the US aviation authority due to the increase in military activity near Venezuela.
"They agreed on the importance of reestablishing, as soon as possible, the Caracas-Istanbul-Caracas air connection through Turkish Airlines, which will allow them to continue transporting thousands of tourists and investors who use this route weekly to strengthen ties between both nations."
US questions Maduro after death of imprisoned former governor
After the death of former governor Alfredo Díaz, considered a political prisoner by the opposition, the United States Government denounced the "vile nature of the criminal regime" of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and deplored the conditions of his detention.
"The death of Venezuelan political prisoner Alfredo Díaz, arbitrarily detained at Maduro's torture center in El Helicoide, is yet another reminder of the vile nature of Maduro's criminal regime," the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on social network X.
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The Ministry for the Penitentiary Service of Venezuela reported that the former governor of the Nueva Esparta state died of a heart attack, as initially reported on Saturday, December 6, by several NGOs and political parties.
Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia affirmed that Díaz's death reveals a "sustained pattern of state repression" and denounced that seven political prisoners have died in prison after the presidential elections on July 28, 2024.
Read alsoFormer Venezuelan governor Alfredo Díaz died after a year of isolation in El Helicoide, says the Penal Forum
Díaz's integrity and life were "the exclusive responsibility of those who kept him arbitrarily kidnapped" in El Helicoide, the Caracas headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), Machado and González Urrutia stated.
Díaz, an activist from the opposition Democratic Action party and also a former councilor and former mayor, was arrested in November 2024 after questioning the lack of publication of the disaggregated results of the presidential elections and denouncing the electricity crisis in the state of Nueva Esparta, which the Government attributed to attacks by the opposition.
With EFE and local media
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